A developmental profile of speech sound and syllable acquisition in Zulu speaking children

by Naidoo, Yugeshiree.

Abstract (Summary)

This study investigated speech sound and syllable development in eighteen Zulu speaking
children, between the ages of 3;0 to 6;2. In addition, the frequency of occurrence of Zulu speech
sounds and syllables in this age group was investigated. To elicit a representative sample of the
subjects’ natural speech, a 100-word spontaneous conversational sample was elicited from each
subject. The samples were collected by a linguistically matched research assistant. All samples
were transcribed phonetically by a stringent transcription procedure, and the reliability of the
transcription was assessed by an external moderator. The UNIBET was used to code the
transcription into computer recognisable symbols. The Phonetic Calculator Program (PCP)
quantitively analysed the samples in terms of speech sound inventory, syllable inventory and the
frequency of occurrence of speech sounds and syllables. The data was processed to allow for the
comparison of the findings at three age levels namely, 3;0-4;0; 4;1-5;1 and 5;2-6;2. It was found
that there was developmental progression between the ages of 3;0-6;2, with regard to speech
sounds and syllables. It was found that much speech and syllable development occurred before
the age of 3;0, and that the speech sound inventory and syllable inventory was incomplete by the
age of 6;2. In addition, the nasals, plosives, approximants and fricatives were found to develop
earlier than the affricates, clicks and prenasalised consonant sounds. The shorter syllable strings
were found to develop earlier than the longer syllable strings. The subjects produced more
speech sounds at an earlier age than their English-speaking peers. The subjects also produced
longer strings of syllables at a younger age than their English-speaking peers. The findings in
Group 1, Group 2 and Group 3 were similar to each other with regard to, the order of the speech
sound frequency and syllable frequency. The more complex sounds and syllables were produced
more frequently by the older subjects, demonstrating developmental progression. The findings
have important clinical implications. Furthermore, the study can provide Speech-Language
Therapists with a framework for further research, and contribute in constructing a relevant datab
ase of Zulu speech development.